Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Saddam: No Clean Underwear Is Torture

I accidentally came across this article in The Sydney Morning Herald, which points out the incredible discrepancy between the worlds of Saddam Hussein and his victims. At his trial, the nasty former dictator had a problem comprehending the pain he had caused his own citizens during his iron grip rule of the country. Instead, he thinks "no underwear, no chance to take a shower and no chance to smoke a cigarette" is terrorism. And he has the nerve to say this while listening to witnesses tearfully recount rape and murder under his rule. Now he decided to boycott the court and told everybody to "Go to Hell!" Sorry, Saddam, the world no longer revolves around you and your underwear.

One of my fellow law students said yesterday that he's "proud" of Saddam for standing up to this "illegitimate" court. Now I'm not sure whether being tried for crimes against humanity is less legitimate than being tried by some foreign judges at The Hague. I would, however, say this is the best way to spotlight the monstrosities caused by Saddam and I wish the prosecution would have started with the most serious crimes. Nonetheless, the man still shows he is totally disconnected from the reality and feels no shame for the crimes perpetrated against his own countrymen.